VNSTA president Harry Gural today sent a letter to Lauren Pair, Rent Administrator for the DC Department of Housing and Community Development, requesting release of a list of DC apartment properties with 50 or more apartments that are subject to rent stabilization.
The letter argues that by failing to provide prospective renters with such a list, the Bowser administration deprives them of information that would enable them to choose apartments that in the long run would be less expensive — making housing less affordable in the District of Columbia.
The letter begins:
Dear Ms. Pair,
I am writing to request a list of apartment buildings in the District of Columbia that are subject to rent stabilization, including the owners and operators of those properties.
Prospective renters in the District of Columbia should be able to search for apartments based on whether or not they are subject to rent stabilization. The failure of the city government to provide such information makes rental housing less affordable in the District.
I understand that DHCD was supposed to have created a rent database that would include such basic information, along with much more detailed information about rents. Despite the fact that rent records reside in DHCD’s Rental Accommodations Division archives, the agency failed to deliver such a database. DHCD has published some rent records in PDF format, but this is like providing access to thousands of file boxes in one’s attic. The City Council reassigned responsibility for the database to the Office of the Tenant Advocate, which also has failed to deliver.